


시린 구름 뒤에 가린 별빛들처럼

by 10cm



Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-05
Updated: 2015-01-05
Packaged: 2018-03-05 12:41:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3120521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10cm/pseuds/10cm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(like the starlight hidden behind the cold clouds.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	시린 구름 뒤에 가린 별빛들처럼

they escape from times square and their management around seven, because everyone is distracted. taemin is both mortified and transfixed by the cowboy with no pants on who keeps trying to take a photo with him. jonghyun doesn’t blame him for his horror, though he does kind of wonder what the cowboy would do if he was aware of who they were. (do cowboys in times square even have a reason to know who they are?) minho is trying to understand american football as explained to him by a stranger, and onew is supervising all of it, so key grabs jonghyun around the wrist and pulls him away.

they pull their hats down over their faces and sneak together away down a different street, one that leads away from the square. neither of them have a map, and jonghyun is really bad at directions. it’s all very exciting, as long as jonghyun doesn’t think about how screwed they would be if they got lost.

“where are we going?” he hisses.

key shrugs and slows his walk, now that they’re a block or so away from the square. “i didn’t think about that,” he says. his tone says he doesn’t really care. “i’m hungry.”

jonghyun has been subsisting mostly on caffeine and pastries since they got off the plane, so he accepts this logic. “okay,” he says. “so where are we gonna eat? it’s not like we have any idea what’s around here, right?”

“we could do it the old-fashioned way,” key says. “you know, where we walk around until we find something that looks delicious.”

with his hand already in his pocket, about to dig his smart phone out, jonghyun pauses and looks at key. the idea of doing something the old-fashioned way startles him a little. it startles him even more that they’ve come to think as the time before we were idols as old-fashioned. “oh,” he says, nodding a little. “we could do that, too.”

strange, how even things they did a couple of years ago seem like the distant past.

they wander down a couple more streets, looking in the windows of shops selling jewelery, cigarettes, tourist items. jonghyun doesn’t think he needs salt and pepper shakers shaped like the empire state building, but he does make a show of considering a large visor with statue of liberty spikes. americans are strange, he concludes.

“i give up,” key says eventually. “the next place we find that sells food, that’s where we’re eating.”

the next place they find to eat is a small hole-in-the-wall cafe, the kind of place that they would walk right by if it were seoul. but they’re both hungry (jonghyun can actually hear key’s stomach make a sound) and hunger trumps any other qualms about where their food comes from. “okay,” key says, taking jonghyun’s wrist and pulling him inside.

key orders in english—jonghyun always forgets how good key is at it—and they sit down, hats still pulled low, looking at each other. “this is ridiculous,” jonghyun says, trying very hard not to smile.

“we’re gonna have our asses kicked when we get back,” key agrees.

but somehow it doesn’t seem like it’s that big of a deal. they turn their phones on silent and eat sandwiches and pickles and drink soda. jonghyun doesn’t think about counting calories or how much he’s going to have to work out to make up for this. key doesn’t make any comments about mayonnaise going straight to his thighs. it’s nice, it’s relaxing—it doesn’t feel like being an idol.

“i kind of wish we could do this more often,” jonghyun says suddenly, gripped by inspiration.

key glances up at him from the chips on his plate. “do what? go to new york?”

“no—well, yes. but also i just wish we could go out and hang out and not worry about... jinki hyung and vocal training and dance practice.”

they’ve had discussions before that skirted around the idea of what they would do if they weren’t idols, but everyone is always very careful to make sure they don’t seem dissatisfied. key looks at him with a strange expression on his face. “you mean, things we could do if we weren’t shinee,” he says. “just for clarity.”

“maybe,” jonghyun says. he might be crossing a line; he’s not sure how to find out other than to keep going. “don’t get me wrong, i love shinee. i love what we do. but don’t you ever wish—”

“jonghyun.”

“i want to be able to walk through revolving doors at the airport and not worry about the people in there with me,” jonghyun says. “i want to go shopping for my mom’s birthday present without wearing a facemask. that’s all.”

he knows even as he says it that it’s the wrong thing to say. there’s no that’s all when you’re an idol. when you sell your privacy to be in the public eye, there are certain ramifications. being recognizable is one of them. “nevermind,” jonghyun says. he chuckles. it’s not entirely without humor. “i’m being stupid, huh?”

“a little,” key says, but he’s very quiet until they’re done eating.

after they’ve paid and stepped outside, key takes jonghyun’s hand and looks at him very seriously. “all that stuff you said,” he says, “in there. i can’t give you that, jonghyun.”

“i know,” jonghyun says. of course he knows. he would never expect key to be a superhero, not any more than he already is (and sometimes they all agree that he can’t be anything but). he made his choices. he lives with the consequences now. “i knew what i was getting into when i signed on for this,” he continues, linking his and key’s fingers. americans think men who hold hands are gay, don’t they? jonghyun finds he doesn’t really mind. “i wouldn’t change it.”

“you’re not unhappy?” key says. his tone sounds like he’s making a statement, but his eyes say that it’s a question.

“you do a lot for us—” pause. “for me. you do a lot for me already. like drag me away from times square so we can go to kosher delis and get fat.”

“we are not going to get fat,” key says. but his hand is warm in jonghyun’s as they walk back to the square, and he doesn’t let go, not even when jinki starts yelling.


End file.
